Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part VII

AP: Senate foes of troop buildup join forces

Two senators – a Republican and a Democrat – leading separate efforts to put Congress on record against President Bush’s troop buildup in Iraq joined forces Wednesday, agreeing on a nonbinding resolution that would oppose the plan and potentially embarrass the White House.

Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., had been sponsoring competing measures opposing Bush’s strategy of sending 21,500 more U.S. troops to the war zone, with Warner’s less harshly worded version attracting more Republican interest. The new resolution would vow to protect funding for troops while keeping Warner’s original language expressing the Senate’s opposition to the buildup.

Levin replaced Warner as chairman of the Armed Services Committee when the Democrats took control of the Senate in January. Their resolution could well gain more support from members of both parties than their separate versions had been attracting. It lacks Levin’s language saying the troop increase is against the national interest, and it drops an earlier provision by Warner suggesting Senate support for some additional troops.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wants to begin debate Monday on the new measure, bypassing committee review. Levin’s original resolution would no longer be considered unless offered as an amendment.

“I believe we have a better chance now” of passing a resolution against the president’s plan, said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

Filibuster and Flap is just about done with John Warner – GOP primary challenge for him. Will 11 GOP Senators break ranks and vote for cloture and the amended resolution?

If they do, the NRSC is DEAD MEAT and those Senators up for re-election in 2008 better start fundraising the day after their betrayl of our troops.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., right, and committee member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, talks with Adm. William Fallon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007, prior to Fallon’s confirmation hearing before the committee to head commander of the U. S. Central Command.

“It’s been a hard work in progress,” Warner said of his resolution, which has been struggling to win support of 60 senators so as to prevent a filibuster.

The agreement comes as several leading Republicans who support the troop buildup said they will give the administration and the Iraqis about six months to show significant improvement. Many other Republicans say they are deeply skeptical additional troops in Iraq, rather than a political settlement, would help calm the sectarian violence.

Warner had attracted at least seven other Republicans who were inclined to vote for his resolution. Scrambling to find additional support, Warner added language proposed by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., that would protect funding for troops.

As of late Wednesday, Gregg had not said whether he would support the revised resolution.

“Colleagues have come up to me and said, ‘Can you assure me that this doesn’t provide a cutoff of funds?'” Warner said.

Warner’s resolution will now rival a proposal by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that would identify benchmarks for the Iraqi government. McCain’s measure is intended to give Republicans an outlet for expressing that the U.S. commitment in Iraq must not be open-ended, without openly criticizing the president.

McCain’s measure also picked up steam Wednesday, with Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and GOP leaders saying they might support it.

It is obvious that Senator Warner has NOT been listening to the over 31,000 people who have taken the PLEDGE.

31,598 people have signed The Pledge thus far. Will you?

If the United States Senate passes a resolution, non-binding or otherwise, that criticizes the commitment of additional troops to Iraq that General Petraeus has asked for and that the president has pledged, and if the Senate does so after the testimony of General Petraeus on January 23 that such a resolution will be an encouragement to the enemy, I will not contribute to any Republican senator who voted for the resolution. Further, if any Republican senator who votes for such a resolution is a candidate for re-election in 2008, I will not contribute to the National Republican Senatorial Committee unless the Chairman of that Committee, Senator Ensign, commits in writing that none of the funds of the NRSC will go to support the re-election of any senator supporting the non-binding resolution.

Don’t blame Flap if GOP fundraising goes into the toilet.

The way these fools, especially Warner and McCain have been handling this slap at the President and our troops, they really don’t deserve MY money or MY VOTE.

Contact their offices tomorrow and let them know how you feel. Flap will be on the phones early and often.

The contact list in the Senate:

Senator McConnell: Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499E-mail here.

Senator Lott: Phone: 202-224-6253 Fax: (202)-224-2262 E-mail here.

Senator Kyl: Phone: (202) 224-4521 Fax: (202) 224-2207 E-mail here.

Senator Ensign: (202)-224-6244 Fax: 202-228-2193. E-mail here.

Senator McCain: Phone: (202)-224-2235 Fax (202)-228-2862. E-mail here.

Senator Warner: Phone: (202) 224-2023 Fax: (202) 224-6295. E-mail here.

Senator Cornyn: Phone:202-224-2934 Fax: 202-228-2856. E-mail here.

Senator Smith: Phone: 202-224-3752 Fax: 202-228-3997. E-mail here.

Senator Coleman: Phone: 202-224-5641 Fax: 202-224-1152.E-mail here

Update:

Â Now, some of the GOP Senators are complaining.

One GOP lawmaker, who declined to be named, said it is “starting to get really ugly” among Republicans when they try to talk about Iraq and the wisdom of the new Bush policy. This lawmaker said when a Republican stands up who has doubts on Iraq, he’s immediately “beaten down” by other Republicans who believe that any deviation from the White House position is intolerable.

Said another Republican with concerns about Bush’s new strategy: “It’s as if we are stabbing the party in the back, and we are only trying to do what we think is right.”

Similar passions were on display Tuesday, when Senate Republicans held a closed-door, members-only meeting to talk about Iraq, a debate that took place in front of Vice President Cheney, who has been one of the most strident voices on Iraq within the administration.

“It was contentious. People feel firmly, and many of us very passionately, in support of our position,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is opposed to Bush’s surge plan. “What really upsets me is that those of us who (are) opposed to the surge are somehow not supportive of our troops and General Petraeus.” Gen. David Petraeus has been named to command U.S. forces in Iraq.

GOP Senators are digging themselves deeper…….

Stay tuned…….